The Crown applied to admit into evidence the out-of-court statements of an absconding witness and the maximum capacity limits section of a Sea-Doo owner/operator manual for the truth of their contents.
The charges involved criminal negligence causing death and human smuggling after a Sea-Doo capsized, resulting in two drownings.
The court dismissed the application to admit the witness statements, finding that while necessity was met due to the witness's unavailability, threshold reliability was not established because the inability to cross-examine the witness resulted in significant prejudice to the accused.
The court also dismissed the application to admit the manual, ruling it was hearsay and lacked evidence of reliability.
